[1386] environment variables not working

my nuxt.config.js

require('dotenv').config()

module.exports = {

  env: {
    API: process.env.API || 'http://localhost:8000',
    test: 'ting',
  },

  /*
   * Router config
   */
  router: {
    middleware: 'auth'
  },

a console.log of process.env on any page or my plugins/axios.js always shows {}